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World Rugby re-designs Sevens series format

Kenya Sevens players celebrate after winning the Singapore leg of the Sevens Series in 2016. .Photo/Martin Seras Lima

DUBLIN, Republic of Ireland, Oct 3- The Men’s and Women’s World Rugby Sevens Series will feature gold, silver and bronze medals for the first time from the 2016-17 season.

In a move that will align the annual series with the Olympic Games, World Rugby has also announced a restructuring of the final competition day, driving greater meaning for teams and fans.

The traditional Cup, Plate, Bowl and Shield winners format will be replaced by two competitions. The top two teams in each pool will progress to the Cup competition and the chance to win a gold medal, while lower ranked teams will contest a new Challenge Trophy competition.

The restructure means that each series event will climax with the 13th-place positional play-off, followed by the Challenge Trophy (ninth place), the fifth place play-off, Bronze medal match and the Gold medal match (Cup winners).

The structure is similar to that operated at the Monaco and Dublin Olympic Games repechage events in June. The number of matches the teams play across each event remains the same, as does the points distribution.

World Rugby Chairman Bill Beaumont said: “Rugby sevens continues to go from strength to strength after a hugely successful Olympic Games debut and we are very much looking forward to what promises to be a very exciting and competitive men’s and women’s series.

“This is the first season within the Tokyo 2020 cycle and therefore the timing of these adjustments makes sense. They are designed to enhance fan understanding of the schedule and format, while providing teams with the opportunity to win a medal, as is fitting with an Olympic sport.”

With series anticipation and interest on a high after what was widely regarded as a hugely successful Olympic Games debut, the Men’s and Women’s series kick off in Dubai on December 1, before the Men’s series moves on to Cape Town, South Africa.